Switched on: Giving fax the axe

Each week Ross Rubin contributes Switched On, a column about consumer technology.

Today's smartphones handle voice conversations, short texts, email, instant messages, and tweets from around the globe. They are moving toward real-time translation of languages -- and if the batteries malfunction, they can even send smoke signals. But if there is one staple of communication that has seemed immune from "app-ification," it is the fax machine. This dial-up dinosaur has proven so resilient that it seems certain that the mutant cockroaches surviving humanity may find some use for 14,400 bits per second document transmissions. However, a recently launched $3 app for the iPhone may be the harbinger of the demise of the fax, or at least for one of its most common rationales.

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Switched on: Giving fax the axe originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 23 Mar 2010 23:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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No iPhone 4G this Year, but Android 4G is Almost Here! — The Competition

While Apple will almost certainly release a 4th generation iPhone this June or July, it won’t be an iPhone 4G because 4G LTE networks in the US won’t be up and running in significant enough quantities until 2011 or 2012 but Sprint is slowly rolling out a competing 4G WiMax network and has just announced a competing uber-phone to go with it — the Android 2.1 powered, Sense UI shellacked HTC EVO 4G.

Our buddy Phil Nickinson from Android Central is on the ground at CTIA 2010 and bringing us back the full Sprint EVO 4G video and hands on, but suffice it to say, once again HTC is just showing off. The specs are obscene. Total. Gadget. Porn.

First and foremost, the thing is a beast. A 4.3-inch LED touchscreen — same as the HD2 — and the same 1GHz Snapdragon processor. A gigabyte of ROM and 512 of RAM round out what’s under the hood.

Like taking pictures? There’s an 8-megapixel camera and dual flashes — for sheer candle power — to take care of that. Wanna record moving pictures in 720p? No sweat. Plus, there’s a basic 1.3MP camera on the front of the phone — pretty much a first for a U.S. carrier-sanctioned device. Now you just have to have apps that support it.

Of course, if you record in HD, you might as well have HD playback, right? And for that, there’s a mini-HDMI port, so you can go straight from the Evo 4G to an HD television. There’s a cute little kickstand, too, which makes the Evo 4G great for watching movies.

Now Steve Jobs is rumored to have said the iPhone G4 (not iPhone 4G!) will be an A+ upgrade, but what does that mean? Will the lack of 4G networking hurt them? We doubt it. Will less-than-EVO specs?

Apple has repeatedly said they believe software — not hardware — is their key advantage, so will they even try to match specs with HTC or are they hoping iPhone 4.0 (with its rumored multitasking) will be enough to stay ahead of even beefier handsets?

We know Apple has to bring it in 2010, but the bar for that bring might just have been raised again. Take a gander at the new king of iPhone competition (for this month at least) and let us know what you think!

No iPhone 4G this Year, but Android 4G is Almost Here! — The Competition is a story by TiPb. This feed is sponsored by The iPhone Blog Store.

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StyleTap Brings PalmOS to iPhone Jailbreak

It’s no secret many iPhone users switched over from PalmOS Treo devices (yours truly included!) and now StyleTap has brought a way for you to run all your old PalmOS apps on your Jailbroken iPhone. Says Engadget:

you’ll be able to run Palm OS applications (compatible up to version 5.2), with support for native ARM apps, Audio recording and playback, virtual memory cards, and TCP/IP connectivity, amongst other features.

It was announced back in June of 2008, but better late than never, right? The cost is a not-so-insignificant $49.99 and will only work for as long as you keep your iPhone jailbroken (which means no iPhone 4.0 for you for a while at least!) but if there’s just something you gotta blast from your PalmOS past, check it out.

StyleTap Brings PalmOS to iPhone Jailbreak is a story by TiPb. This feed is sponsored by The iPhone Blog Store.

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StyleTap finally brings Palm OS to your iPhone

Well it's been a long time coming, but now you can finally run your favorite Palm OS apps on your (jailbroken) iPhone. The good folks at StyleTap have taken that exciting demo we saw way back in May of 2008 and turned it into a Cydia-downloadable reality. As we said, you'll need to violate Apple's rules (and break Steve's heart) to get the emulator on your device, but once you do you'll be able to run Palm OS applications (compatible up to version 5.2), with support for native ARM apps, Audio recording and playback, virtual memory cards, and TCP/IP connectivity, amongst other features. If you've been hanging on to a Treo or other discontinued Palm product due to your sick dependency on a single program (or set of programs), here's your chance to break free. You'll also be breaking free of $49.99, which is what the folks at StyleTap are requesting for this pleasure, and keep in mind that if you upgrade using one of Apple's official number bumps, you're out of luck with your jailbroken software. Still, we find the existence of this to be totally badical, so hit the read link and bone up on your next purchase.

StyleTap finally brings Palm OS to your iPhone originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 23 Mar 2010 20:11:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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iPhone 3G On iPhone OS 3.1.3 Unlocked Using Hardware Hack

Adobe Creative Suite 5 Set to Launch April 12th

Adobe today announced that it will hold a launch event for Creative Suite 5 (CS5) on Monday, April 12th at 8:00 AM Pacific Time. While the company has yet to release many specific details on CS5 or disc...

iPhone Mail Might Get Universal Mailbox?

How Apple-Google Partnership Turned Sour

Apple Rumored to Ship iPad Review Units This Week

April 3rd is fast approaching so it’s only fitting that Apple is rumored to begin shipping iPad review units to select reviewers this Thursday (either that or they’ll be arriving Thursday, like many rumors it’s not exactly clear).

Also not clear is whether the lucky reviewers will receive Wi-Fi only, WiFi+3G, or both iPads, and exactly who is getting them (other than Mossberg from The Wall Street Journal and Pogue from The New York Times, of course).

We here at TiPb aren’t holding our collective breaths, but we have pre-ordered (and Rene’s making the long drive down to the US) so you’ll get to hear our thoughts soon enough.

Until then, however, let us know how many of you are waiting to hear some reviews before you bite the bullet and lay down your hard earned cash for an iPad?

[Via Silicon Alley Insider]

Apple Rumored to Ship iPad Review Units This Week is a story by TiPb. This feed is sponsored by The iPhone Blog Store.

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Sign And Send Documents On The Go With Zosh iPhone App

Review: 140 Characters for iPhone

This companion app to the book of the same name overs the basics of Twitter usage, while spending the most time concentrating on how to get your message across in such a limited amount of space. Some users may find the app overkill, but if you're looking to master Twitter, 140 Characters is a good place to get started.

Analysis: Can the iPhone save higher education?

In the second year of its mobile learning project, Abilene Christian University is studying how the iPhone is changing the way teachers teach and students learn.

Slick card magic for your iPhone

Filed under: Gaming, iPhone, App Review

I've enjoyed reviewing some of the clever magic tricks that are getting developed for the iPhone over the last year, and I want to be sure to point out Magic Card which is clever and will likely fool the uninitiated.

Here's what the spectator sees: a person cuts the deck to select a card, which is kept face down. You use your iPhone to take a picture of the card, either alone on the table, or as I prefer at the top of the stack. The spectator sees you select the camera icon and take the picture. To be sure the picture wasn't taken in advance the spectator can put something in the picture like a ring or tableware next to the card to prove it.

You display the picture you have just taken, and shake the iPhone a bit. In a moment, the face down image of the card changes to a face up picture. When the card is turned over, it matches.

The trick can be repeated, and another card will show up. To the experienced, it may be obvious how it works. To people I tried it out on, it was a 'gee-whiz' moment. If you've done a bit of magic before, you can use alternate methods to get the card selected that may be even more mysterious.

I think this is a nifty effect to do at a party or at a bar. Of course you'll need a deck of cards, but no self-respecting conjuror would be without one.

Magic Card is on sale at the app store for US$2.99. Early versions of the app were reported to have some bugs, but I found this release to be rock solid. I think magic tricks will have a place on the iPad as well, and look forward to seeing versions in higher resolution.

Slick card magic for your iPhone originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Tue, 23 Mar 2010 16:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Slick card magic for your iPhone originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Tue, 23 Mar 2010 16:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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iPhone making big dent in mobile gaming market

Analytics firm Flurry has added up a few numbers and determined that Apple's devices may have conquered as much as 20 percent of the mobile gaming market.

AT&T WorkBench brings enterprise app access

AT&T is offering a new tool to enable secure mobile access to enterprise Web apps.

TiPb Give-Away: $150 SCOTTeVEST Gift Certificate (iPad Give-Away Qualifier)

SCOTTeVEST makes serious gadget apparel for the serious gadget geek — cases in point are their jackets which typically include a couple of iPhone and iPod touch friendly pockets (that let you see and control your device right through the translucent material) and the only pocket we’re aware of big enough to carry an iPad.

And because this could no doubt come in handy to TiPb readers, SCOTTeVEST CEO Scott Jordan has graciously offered up a $150 gift certificate/credit for us to pass along to one of you.

All you have to do to enter is jump on over to the TiPb forums and leave a reply telling us in which SCOTTeVEST product you most want to store your iPhone, iPod touch, and/or iPad.

Give-away starts now and ends Sunday, March 28 at 12:00pm PT. Only one entry per person.

Oh, and every reply you leave on the Forum also counts as an entry for TiPb’s big iPad give-away, so get going!

And just to make sure you appreciate just how much you can stuff into SCOTTeVEST, I’m re-embedding our TiPb Gear video after the break!

YouTube link

TiPb Give-Away: $150 SCOTTeVEST Gift Certificate (iPad Give-Away Qualifier) is a story by TiPb. This feed is sponsored by The iPhone Blog Store.

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Scanner Pro updated, still powerful, still complex

Filed under: iPhone, App Store

Scanner Pro is a US$6.99 iPhone app by Readdle which will let you easily take a picture with your iPhone.

We've looked at Scanner Pro before and now a new 2.0 version has been released with page edge detection, image stabilization, and German, Spanish, French, and Italian localizations.

Unfortunately, it doesn't do much to address the UI issues that Erica pointed out in her original review. The UI is complicated, and it took me several attempts to even figure out how to take a picture. The screen shot at the right shows the "workflow" for creating a new document (tap the icons at the bottom, working left-to-right, to step through the process).

After I took a picture of a page of text, another menu offered to let me "crop" the scan down to particular sizes. it took a bit of effort to get the margins lined up, and eventually I just hit the "Select All" button instead.

Scanner Pro does offer a few advanced features such as the ability to create PDF files with passwords, landscape orientation, manual light/contrast adjustments, Dropbox support, and integration with Print n Share to print your scans. It also supports iDisk (or other WebDAV servers) and Evernote.

I tested the Dropbox support and it worked very quickly and smoothly. However when you initially save a document, you are only offered the option to send the file to Evernote, your photo library, or Google Docs. Dropbox is inexplicably missing from the "Send to" menu, which means that you have to step back out of the process and go to another menu to upload it.

Frankly I think the whole idea of using your iPhone as a scanner is flawed in the first place, akin to using a wrench as a hammer. If you don't have a hammer but need to whack something, a wrench will do in a pinch, but no one with any serious hammering to do would ever choose a wrench for the job. Likewise, the ability to use your iPhone to capture a piece of paper and send it to someone else or yourself could come in handy in an "emergency" but I wouldn't do it very often. For occasional, light use I still don't see any reason not to use something like Evernote which is free, or just take a picture from the iPhone camera app and email it to yourself later.

If you find yourself wishing that you could print and password protect PDF scans from your iPhone, you're much more of a power user than I am, and may find Scanner Pro worth the price. I still wish that the App Store supported time-limited demos so that people could download an app and test it for themselves before buying. I suspect that there are plenty of power users who would be willing to learn Scanner Pro's UI and benefit from what it has to offer. For the average iPhone user, $7 is probably more than they are likely to spend on an app they'll seldom use.

Scanner Pro updated, still powerful, still complex originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Tue, 23 Mar 2010 15:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Scanner Pro updated, still powerful, still complex originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Tue, 23 Mar 2010 15:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Opera Mini For iPhone Submitted To App Store For Approval [Updated]

Analyst Continues to Believe Apple Will Launch Internet-Connected TV

The Loop reports on a new research note from Piper Jaffray analyst Gene Munster predicting that Apple will launch an Internet-connected television within the next 2-4 years.

"As connected ...

Sent from Steve’s iPad: Universal Inbox for iPhone Mail, Google Docs to iPad, Free ePub Support

Apple CEO and part time CSR Steve Jobs is on a roll replying to the faithful about the state and status of their beloved gadgets, this time giving word on Google Docs to iPad, and a universal inbox for iPhone Mail and a confirmation on free ePub eBook support for iTunes and iBooks.

First up, TUAW tells us:

Late last night, a TUAW reader sent us an email that was reportedly from Jobs. The reader asked if there was a way he could transfer his Google Docs to his iPad through iWork.com or iDisk. Jobs’ reply? “Yes.”

Reader Julio R. asked Steve if we can expect a universal mailbox on the iPhone. His answer? “Yep.”

iPhone 4.0 perhaps?

Also, TiPb Facebook friend Andrea N sent us word that he double checked with Jobs about free ePub books (like those we mentioned yesterday from Project Gutenberg) working on the iPad. The response? Another “Yep”.

While the brevity (even terseness) of Jobs’ emails entertain at times, it’s amazing to see him respond at all, let alone so frequently. (Though we’d love to see Ballmer and Schmidt responding from their BlackBerry Nexus Ones and Windows Phones respectively…

Sent from Steve’s iPad: Universal Inbox for iPhone Mail, Google Docs to iPad, Free ePub Support is a story by TiPb. This feed is sponsored by The iPhone Blog Store.

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